WICKLOW COURTHOUSE WILL BE EXTENDED AND RE-OPENED
THE Courts Service has given a commitment to extend Wicklow Courthouse so it that contains four courtroom venues once it reopens.
The courthouse hasn’t held Circuit Court sittings since 2008 and District Court sittings since 2010 after it was closed on health and safety grounds.
In the Dail, an update on the court’s future was sought by Fianna Fail Deputy Pat Casey from the Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan.
The Minister replied that the Court Services, as part of their capital building programme, intend to extend and refurbish the courthouse to provide four courtrooms, together with a range of facilities for staff, the judiciary, persons in custody, jurors, legal professionals, other state agencies and members of the public.
Before closing, Wicklow Courthouse only had two courtrooms.
Wicklow town is one of a number of county town venues nationwide still requiring new or upgraded courthouse accommodation and Deputy Casey wants to see Wicklow prioritised so it is included in the next bundle of funding.
‘I am pleased that the Department has confirmed to me that they plan to extend and refurbish Wicklow Courthouse,’ said Deputy Casey.
‘It’s good news and there is a commitment to reopen the courthouse and to provide auxiliary services on top of that. Now we need to keep the pressure on to ensure Wicklow is included in the next bundle of court restorations.
‘The Department do confirm that they have yet to proceed to detailed planning and design stage and I will be continuing to engage with the Department to ensure this happens as quickly as possible. It is essential that works begin in the next bundle of funding delivered by the Department.’
The Courts Service has indicated that while detailed planning or design work has not yet commenced, it has purchased a number of adjacent properties, some of which will be demolished in order to create a larger site capable of accommodating a courthouse building on the scale envisaged. The Courts Service is, at present, considering bringing forward some of these demolition works.
Deputy Casey believes a reopened and refurbished courthouse will help bring some life to the Market Square end of Wicklow town.
‘You will have the courthouse open again which should help revitalise the area, especially with the new library plans and staff from Wicklow Municipal district moving back into the Town Hall.’